December 23, 2013

Nowitzki set to pass Alex English tonight

HOUSTON -- At some point tonight at the Toyota Center, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki will pass Alex English and become the 13th all-time leading scorer in NBA history.

English finished his stellar career in 1992 with 25,613 points. Nowitzki enters tonight's 7 o'clock tipoff against the Houston Rockets with 25,600 points.

"If I pass Alex tonight that'll be great,'' Nowitzki said. "It's a great accomplishment, another fun thing in my career so far.

"But really I'm focused more on hopefully having a good outcome for the Mavericks.''

English's career started in 1976 and he spent the bulk of it -- from 1980-'90 -- playing for the run-and-gun Denver Nuggets. However, he also played the 1990-'91 season for the Mavs.

"That was a little before my time,'' said Nowitzki, who joined the Mavs in 1998. "I didn't actually know that.

"But he was a heckuva scorer and could score multiple ways. They had a fun group there in Denver going up and down (the court) and scoring 130 . He was a great scorer in this league, so that's another fun accomplishment when it happens tonight or if it happens.''